And the ex-con added: “Several times when I was there drones came in and delivered packages that would include drugs and phones.

“They would land in the exercise or next to the healthcare unit, which is right in the middle of the jail.

“Then, as soon as prisoners were allowed to the library or to go and pick up meds (medication) they would go and get their package. They would leave their cell window open and chuck the package back into their cell.

“There was trouble a few times when someone picked up someone else’s delivery.”

Some inmates had parcels containing drugs and smartphones flown in by remote controlled drones

Ashley told how inmates would pay for Spice with tobacco or food ordered from the prison’s canteen.

But bigger deals would be arranged via bank transfers using illicit mobiles.

He said: “Tobacco is currency in there but there were so many phones inside that people were using bank transfers. Dealers would sell Spice in ‘bottle cap’ portions, where it’s measured in the lid of a bottle in amounts of £25, £50 or £100.

“The way it would operate is that someone would ring a friend or relative on the outside and get them to transfer £100 into an account run by the dealer.

“As that happens instantly, the dealer would then ring their missus or someone, get them to check the account and serve up the Spice.”

Ashley, who was a prisoner at Guy's Marsh earlier this year, said there were so many phones prisoners could buy drugs through bank transfers

Ashley, who served a short sentence for assault, said inmates suffered “Spice attacks” – where they get violent or paranoid - several times a day.

But he said so many lags were using it that staff could not cope.

And he said guards would shut inmates suffering the effects of the lethal drug in their cells until they recovered.

He said: “There were five or six Spice attacks a day in there, where in the aftermath of smoking it, people can get violent if anyone comes near them and shout and scream as if they have seen something that has scared the wits out of them.

“If the guards came to deal with it at all, they would just grab the person, chuck them in their cell and lock the door. That is obviously dangerous but they couldn’t do much else.

“They knew who the dealers were and who was using it but couldn’t cope – and it felt like they had given up."

In video footage from the prison, inmates call this lag 'dead' after taking so many drugs he is completely catatonic - but daily Spice attacks are usually more violent and difficult to deal with than this

Ashley, of Melksham, Wilts was jailed in May for an attack on a police officer and public order offences.

He was sent to Bullingdon Prison, Oxon but transferred to Guys Marsh – nearer his home – for the last month of his sentence which he served on Gwent Wing.

He added: “I was a lot more nervous and scared when I got to Guys Marsh.
There are some nasty people in there and it was more gangland.

“I was on a wing of 120 people and there would be only three prison officers who would spend most of their time in an office, poking their heads out occasionally.

He said cells were never turned over as guards would not have dared confront prisoners about their illegal items

Ashley said huge numbers of inmates carried weapons and gangs were a huge problem at the troubled jail.

He said: “A lot of people were in cliques and would all stick together. There would be the Bristol boys, the lads from Swindon and the ones from Newbury in their gangs.

“The black prisoners and the Asians would all stick together too – and it was like the guards let it happen and tried to keep groups together to keep the peace.

“In my wing, the lower level was all white prisoners and the upper level was mostly black and Asian.”

The shocking footage revealed by us last week came despite a HM Inspectorate of Prisons report into Guys Marsh which said: “We found a prison that was in crisis, where managers and staff had all but lost control.”

According to Ashley, lags form gangs quickly in part according to race as the prison wings appear effectively segregated

Ashley added: “I was not that surprised when I saw your story as that place really is wild.

"I met people in there who had got jailed on purpose - by breaking their probation or something - because they knew they could make more money inside.

"They could easily make £200 per day selling Spice."

He said one inmate also made "Hooch" - home-brewed alcohol made by fermenting fruit and other ingredients including bread.

Ashley said: "There was one kiddie who would go along the corridor asking people if they wanted their oranges from dinner and collecting them. He had armfuls of oranges and it wasn't hard to work out what he was doing."

He said the worst violence he witnessed came when a lag having a “Spice attack” lashed out at another inmate – who then beat him to a pulp.

Ashley said: “The poor bloke was battered and had to spend time in healthcare. He was lucky it wasn’t a lot worse.”

Ashley witnessed one horrendous incident when a lag had an argument with a prison officer – and later took revenge by throwing a bucket of human waste over the guard.

And he said: “It shows the problems in there – all that would have happened is he got a bit of extra time added onto his sentence.”

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